The Corpse
by Mr. Black1
Summary: How does one prepare to commit murder? Chapters 19 and 20 are up, R&R!
1. 1 Fundamental Truth and 2 Who I Am

Hiya. My name's Mr. Black. I've always been a fan of this series...and I've always wanted to try my hand at some writing. So here's my first fanfic. Enjoy. All reviews/comments/suggestions/flames/gripes will be appreciated. (Ok, maybe not the flames...) Since the chapters are relatively short, I'm going to post them two at a time. Here we go.  
  
Chapter One: Jay  
  
There is one fundamental truth about how the universe works: No matter what, you are just a piece. Just a piece of a much larger object. And you aren't going to be anything more than that.  
  
My name's Jay. My ID says that anyway. I'm still debating with myself on whether or not I actually deserve to have a name. You see, I'm not a normal human as you may think. As I said, I'm just a piece of something else.  
  
Maybe "piece" isn't the correct word. I guess I'm more like a suit. Yeah, that's it. A suit. Nothing more than a set of muscles for someone else to operate. My pilot, the one who drives me, is out right now. She's eating.I think. I never really figured out how it worked. What she does is leave me, fall into this big, huge pool, swim around for a while, then re-enter me later.  
  
Time out. Does this sound believable to you? I said I'm a human, but I also said a person "drives" me. She enters and exits. How's that possible?  
  
Simple. She's not a human. Her name is Forsil 392. She's a Yeerk.  
  
A Yeerk is a small creature, very much like a slug. Not much more than that, with one exception: they can enter the heads of other species. They can wrap themselves around your brain, settle in, and take control of you. They can make you do whatever they want. They're in control.  
  
I'm not a free human being anymore. I'm just a suit.  
  
My cage is next. See, a Yeerk needs to leave their host creature for a while every three days. Apparently they need to swim in the pool for a while. When the Yeerk is gone, the host can control his or her own body again. Because of this, the host creatures are thrown in cages, only to be released when his or her Yeerk is done. Forsil's just about done, so she'll be back inside for a minute.  
  
Some people try to fight, argue, scream or cry. Personally, I don't care anymore. A lot of things can happen to someone during the course of their life, and you just have to live with them. If I try to fight, I will be killed. So, I'm going to be a suit. No point in resisting.  
  
A Hork-Bajir guard opened my cage door. Hork-Bajir are an alien race enslaved by the Yeerks. They're just suits now, too. Hork-Bajir are huge, walking beasts. Covered in blades from head to toe, the're monsters. They make good guards, like this one.  
  
This Hork-Bajir grabbed me and pushed my head into the pool. A squishy thing came up to my ear, and began to enter my ear canal. It started to hurt, but eventually the ear went numb. Apparently, Yeerks have a natural anasthetic built in to numb the pain. After a few seconds, she was all the way in. I could no longer move my body.  
  
My driver made me get my head out of the water. She made me grab a towel, and dried me off.  
  
All right, Jay. Let's go.  
  
And I went, but I didn't move a muscle. She moved them for me.  
  
Chapter 2: Jay  
  
We left the underground pool complex. We walked out to the exit, which happens to be a McDonalds restaurant. We went to our car, and we drove to our house.  
  
It's not really our house. It's yours. You earned it, I'm just a guest.  
  
Forsil 392 is nice to me, I guess. If I were in her position, I guess I'd treat my host the body the same way. No sense having to spend every hour fighting for control.  
  
I led a very unusual life, by comparison, before I became Forsil's home. And technically, I still do.she's just living it for me. I have a pretty unorthodox job. It's actually quite nice. I set my own hours, only work where and when I want to. And what is this wonderful profession I have?  
  
I'm a professional poker player.  
  
It's cute how much you like saying that.  
  
It's not an easy job though. You have to come to a game, sit down, and play your heart out. The poker games I play in have structured limits, meaning there are small bets and big bets of fixed amounts. For example, a small bet is $20 and a big bet is $40. My goal is to win one big bet per hour. $40. I'm just trying to win $40 an hour. That's my "wage".  
  
Jay.I hate to interrupt you, but it's time to go. "The tourists don't give money away to themselves", as you always say.  
  
Oh yeah. It's Friday evening. The tourists are sitting down at the poker tables, ready to lose their money.  
  
And I got to go take it from them. 


	2. 3 Casino Royale and 4 The Call

Here we go for round 2! Thanks for the reviews (both of them...lol). Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 3: Jay  
  
On the surface, one might say I led an interesting life. But I don't. When I tell people I play poker, I usually get a lot of questions."Wow! Do you bluff a lot?" "What's the most you've ever won?" "Can I see your poker face?".stuff like that.  
  
That would be "No," "$6,600," and "You don't need one."  
  
I usually humor them to keep the mystery alive.but in all truth, usually I'm bored out of my mind. Playing poker is fun. Playing poker correctly is a real exercise in endurance. This is a job like any other. Go to the office and put the hours in. Except a bad day at work means you lose money.  
  
Just wait for the good cards to start, more good cards after that, then bet all the way. If not, fold. I've had to sit there for hours to look at nothing but garbage like 7-2, 9-3, J-2, 10-5.where's the two face cards or the big pair I'm waiting for?  
  
In the other guy's hands.  
  
Nowadays, one still might say again I lead an interesting life. This time I agree. I spend my days doing one of four things: eating, sleeping, playing poker, and participating in world domination conspiracies. Yeah, you read that right.  
  
Think about it. As I said before, Yeerks are really mere slugs. They're helpless by themselves. They've got no eyes. They can't see anything. All they have is the ability to take. Take someone's body, take someone's senses, and take their lives.  
  
Calm down, Jay. Let's not go down that road.  
  
Sigh.Anyway, when a Yeerk infests a host, the host doesn't look any different. He doesn't act strangely. You'd never know that this nice guy is being controlled by an alien slug, unless you're being controlled yourself.  
  
I.and by "I" I mean Forsil and me.am a member of an organization called the Sharing. On the surface, it's something this country needs: a place where people can get together and not try to tear each other apart. It's nice, friendly, and homely. My advice is to find a way to get out before you become a "full" member though. If you do, they'll drag you down to the pool, stick your head in there, and you're a suit, like me. Who knows, we may share a cage at the next feeding. Don't say I didn't warn you. You'd find out what Hell really is.  
  
I said, calm down. I really don't want to cancel this trip, so don't make me do it.  
  
All right, enough of the rambling. We're here.  
  
We do a quick inventory check. Bankroll: we grab $2,000 out of the safe in the trunk. Check. Image: We put on my old State college cap and some shades. Check.  
  
As we finally set foot in the casino, I feel a creepy sensation all over. It's as if my skeleton had been instantly removed, and my skin would fall into a neatly folded pile on the floor. I nearly fall over, as it takes a few seconds for me to regain my balance.  
  
How do I put this...okay. Humans are mostly water. Water is nice and movable. But when your body is being run by someone else, that water seems to turn into iron. You can't move a single muscle. I'm stiff as a statue if I try to move without Forsil's permission. But when I get control again, it's as if the iron became water instantaneously. Hence my loss of balance.  
  
That was profound.  
  
Forsil letting me be me again. See, we've got a deal set up. When you gamble for a living, you run the risk of ruin. I'm well practiced at that, but both Forsil and I fear a potential screw-up if she's in control. So whenever we enter a casino, card club, or some other place where there's a poker game, I run the show. Barring a real emergency, I'm my own man.  
  
I make my way through the lost souls (slot machine players) to the poker room. I head over to the board, where people sign up to get a seat. There isn't anyone waiting for the game I came to play.  
  
"Hey Cynthia, how's your night so far?" I said.  
  
Hey, I said that. Cool.  
  
Cynthia, the clerk for the board, is in charge of getting everyone into a poker game quickly.  
  
"It's going great, Jay. I got no board (meaning no one waiting) for 20-40. Want in?"  
  
"Please. Can't disappoint these tourists, now can I?"  
  
"Go easy on 'em...they pay your bills. It's at table 21," Cynthia says, with a smile. I flag down a chip runner, buy $500 in chips from my $2,000 gangster roll, and head on over.  
  
Chapter 4: Forsil  
  
If there's one time I can truly relax, it's when Jay's playing this gambling game, called "poker". I really enjoy the time where I can be just an observer, not a controller.  
  
This casino is full of humans absorbing their vices, in this case, gambling. Some play "slots", which are just machines that have their lights flash and wheels spin when money is inserted. It rarely returns any money, let alone enough to make the human a winner. Some humans play these machines exclusively, believing that their miracle jackpot is only a few spins away. Jay thinks the odds of that happening are somewhere around one in 500,000. When it hits, the machine only pays out around $100,000.  
  
These people are willing to spend $500,000 to get $100,000 back. Jay calls them "lost souls"...a term I find ironically accurate.  
  
There are many other "games" in this place, and almost all of them are just elaborate schemes to relieve humans of their money. It seems that the only people in this place with any intelligence are the proprietors and smart gamblers like Jay...a very small percentage.  
  
I am reminded of the small-time Gedd-Controllers who attempted to further their own ends by running gambling games on the homeworld. I think there were about 3 of them. The first two were arrested and executed, the third realized that not only that he would eventually be caught, but that no self- respecting Yeerk has a gambling vice.  
  
Each of my first two human hosts had such simple minds. My first, May, was simply a young child who was weak and clueless. I really was assigned her because a Hork-Bajir combat host (which was why I was transferred to Earth in the first place) was unavailable at the time. I only resided in May for a few days.  
  
After that, I was assigned another female host, named Ginger. My Sub-Visser seemed to believe I wanted a female host, which matches my gender, but it seemed to be clear that I was better off with a male after infesting Ginger. She spent almost all of her time crying in her mind. I had put up with hosts like her for ages. Although it was easily within my capabilities, I just didn't want to have to go to war with my host anymore every second of every day. I've done enough for the Empire, I deserve some peace and quiet...  
  
Quick! What are my odds? I got 5 outs twice.  
  
Twenty percent. 4 to 1.  
  
Thanks.  
  
That was Jay. He needed me to do a little math problem for him. In poker, one must be able to calculate the odds of receiving the best hand, and comparing it to the "pot odds" to see if it is justifiable to chase those cards.  
  
Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. Let me explain.  
  
The form of poker Jay is playing is called "Texas Hold 'Em". (I have no clue how it got that name.) Each player receives two private cards; the 5 cards are spread in the center of the table for everyone to use. One must combine his private cards with the center cards to make one of a list of combinations...ranging from "no pair" to "Royal Flush" (One of each of the 5 highest ranking cards, and all of the same suit).  
  
At first, only 3 cards are spread. They are a King, Queen and Four of different suits. Jay's private cards are an Ace and a Queen. Combining the hands, Jay has a pair of Queens with an Ace, King and a Four. But since there is a King on the board, Jay believes that the hand he must beat is a pair of Kings. He needs one of the three remaining Aces for two pairs, or one of the two remaining Queens for three of a kind. That's 5 cards, or "Outs". There are two cards to come, and the odds of one of them being an Ace or Queen is one in five, or 4 to 1. (Lose 4 times, Win once.)  
  
Remember the slot machine? Its odds are 500,000 to 1, but you only win 100,000 times what you bet if you hit it. This is a losing proposition. Jay's odds are 4 to 1...so if he will win more than 4 times what he must pay to continue, he theoretically "wins"...meaning in the long run, Jay will make money. The pot is very large, about 20 times the size of what Jay must pay.  
  
He's getting 20-1 on a 4-1 shot. This is a huge winning proposition. So he sees the next cards.  
  
The next card is an Eight. No help, and Jay pays again.  
  
The last card is a Queen. Someone bets, Jay raises, and gets called. The other human's private cards are a King and a Ten, for a pair of Kings. Jay shows his three Queens and wins.  
  
Poker is an interesting game. Jay calls it "civilized assault and robbery". One needs courage, tactical prowess, and the desire to take everything one's opponent has.  
  
I'd like to play this game sometime.  
  
A few hands later, the cellular phone rings. Jay continues to play, as I answer it. I have to stop watching the game, but I can't refuse phone calls. Jay probably won't pay attention to what the phone conversation is anyway.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Forsil, drop what you're doing and get to meeting place Beta. We need you for an attack."  
  
Trying to play it off as innocent to the other humans, I respond cluelessly:  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yes. Now."  
  
My commander on the other side hung up, but I still said. "OK, sure. Bye" before replacing the phone in my pocket.  
  
Time to go, Jay. Fold your cards and let's leave.  
  
You must be joking. I aint folding this!  
  
This is an emergency, we're leaving. We agreed to this.  
  
I got the nuts for crying out loud! Gimme a minute!  
  
The "nuts" means the best possible hand. I return my attention to the game, and sure enough, Jay's unbeatable. With two Jacks on the table, combined with his two more Jacks as private cards, he's got four of a kind. There's no straight flush possible, so he can't lose. It's the "nuts". Now, I normally wouldn't tolerate this from my host, but two things made me let him finish...one: the nuts is so rare, it'd be a shame to fold it and leave. Two: Jay is extracting as much money as possible from the other humans, taking as much as he can.  
  
I sometimes see a little of myself in him. Perhaps that's why I let him have some freedom every now and then.  
  
All right, finish it and go.  
  
Jay squeezed another $200 from them, showed his four Jacks, then left. After cashing out our plastic score markers for real money, we left the casino. As we actually left the front door, I took control again. After a jog to a car, we left immediately.  
  
An attack...what we were about to attack, I don't know. I guess we'll find out soon enough.  
  
I started the car and left for the meeting place. 


	3. 5 Plan A and 6 Saving Lives

Wow. I'm surprised how much losing in a free online poker tourney can inspire me. (I knew my two pair was good when I bet everything, but the guy called me on a flush draw and got there.grrr.)  
  
Anyway, since I'm a little ahead of schedule, I figured I'd go ahead and post. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 5: Forsil  
  
Meeting place Beta was not too distant from the casino, only about twenty minutes by car. Jay spent most of the time committing the results of tonight's session to memory, because it was unlikely that we'd be home to record them anytime soon.  
  
The four Jacks made Jay's night. Up until then, he was up about $10 after three hours of play. After that hand, he was a $520 winner. His hourly rate jumped from $3.33 to $173.33. He was in a good mood.  
  
So...what's going on? I wasn't really paying attention to the phone conversation, Jay asked.  
  
I don't know. All that was said was "we need you for an attack." I wonder what he meant?  
  
Maybe he found out where those rogue Andalites were hiding?  
  
Possibly.  
  
Ummm...Forsil?  
  
Yes?  
  
How did this war start? Don't tell me that the Andalites simply want to defend the galaxy, and the Yeerks simply want to enslave it. What's going on?  
  
This is something I was unprepared for, and also unwilling to discuss.  
  
It's a long story. The Andalites and the Yeerks is a story that can't be told in the fifteen minutes we have until we arrive.  
  
OK...then tell me something else.  
  
Like what?  
  
You know how I grew up. How did you grow up?  
  
Excuse me?  
  
Tell me something that happened to you. Some experience you had, something like that.  
  
Why?  
  
You already know everything about me...  
  
I shuddered at that.  
  
When I first infested Jay about three months ago, he was completely unwilling to be a host. I had to break him. During the first three days, I made him relive the worst five minutes of his life, when he was eight years old, over and over again. He finally stopped resisting after that.  
  
I'm not so sure if what I did to Jay was right. I'm not sure he deserved it.  
  
So, I felt an obligation to answer this.  
  
All right.  
  
I told him a story of one of the last battles on the Hork-Bajir homeworld. The war was almost won, and the Andalites were in full retreat, leaving the Hork-Bajir people to be enslaved. We were trying to destroy as many of the fleeing Andalites as possible. As three of them were boarding their escape ship, one of the members of my team was able to damage the hatch door, preventing the last two from boarding the ship. The ship, believing the damage was more severe than it was, lifted off, leaving the two Andalite warriors behind.  
  
So...what happened to them?  
  
I...I slaughtered them.  
  
What?  
  
They tried to fight, but we were too much for them. Me and my soldiers were able to incapacitate them, but the still tried to resist, so...I did what I had to do.  
  
Why?  
  
I didn't want to go any farther with this conversation. I wasn't proud of what I did, but I had to do it...but...  
  
We're here. Time to go.  
  
I was fortunate. Our destination was right here.  
Meeting place Beta was an old mechanic's shop. When I arrived, I changed my shirt to black, grabbed my Dracon beam, and entered.  
  
I expected to see a meeting in progress, a large scale affair planning a massive assault on a major target.  
  
I found just one person. My commander: Sub-Visser Fifty Seven.  
  
"Forsil 326! May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you!"  
  
"And the same to you, my Sub-Visser."  
  
I am given a lot of "formal respect" when dealing with other Yeerks. I don't think it's warranted, but my actions on the Hork-Bajir homeworld have given me a reputation within the Empire.  
  
I was supposedly a great warrior, and a great servant to the empire.  
  
All I really am is a murderer.  
  
Was it murder, though? If I didn't kill those Andalites, a member of my team would have. I at least made it as quick as possible. I did the best I could...  
  
"I'm glad you were available on such short notice. Tonight I will strike a wonderful blow for the Empire, and you will be by my side!"  
  
This guy's got a mental illness. Every time we talk to him he's ranting like a lunatic. Jay likes to offer his opinions on everything after a big poker night.  
  
Delusions of grandeur are commonplace among Yeerk officials, Jay. You get used to it.  
  
"Yes, Sub-Visser. What 'attack' did you summon me for?"  
  
"I have discovered the identity of one of the traitors, a member of the peace movement."  
  
The "peace movement" was a sect of Yeerks who disagreed with the Yeerk way of conquest. They believed that the relationship between Yeerk and host should be symbiotic, and not parasitic.  
  
I'm not a member.  
  
"Sub-Visser, I am glad at your success, but why did you come to me? Shouldn't you simply report it to the Visser?"  
  
"I could do that. I could let the Visser take all the credit for crushing the peace movement. But if I can crush it myself, the Council of Thirteen will certainly make me a Visser!"  
  
Ambition. A curse that affects all races.  
  
"And, why me? There are plenty of Hork-Bajir that could be called...why not summon a few?"  
  
"Because they will ask questions. If Hork-Bajir participate in our mission tonight, they will leak it to someone, word will get to the Visser, and he will take control. I cannot allow that. You on the other hand, are an exemplary member of the Empire. I know I can trust you."  
  
My reputation as a warrior is not deserved...but what of my reputation as one who is trustworthy?  
  
The Sub-Visser continued. "The name of the Yeerk I discovered is Ampriss Seven-Six-Five. Her host is a human lawyer. Tonight, she is at home, studying a case that will go to trial soon. We will enter her house, capture her, and interrogate her. When she gives up the names of peace movement leaders, I will crush them in one fell swoop."  
  
I didn't know how significant this night was at the time. But as I remember it, a pivotal night in my life. I believe I will never forget it.  
  
"What's the plan, Sub-Visser?"  
  
"We will take separate cars, and go alone. The address is..."  
Chapter 6: Ampriss  
  
It had been a long night. Both Angelica and I were exhausted. We had only a few days left to find a way to save our client, or he would be sentenced to death. Luther Black was counting on us.  
  
His faith had been placed in a caffeine-driven lawyer and her alien friend.  
  
All right, let's go over it again, Angelica recounted the notes of the case.  
  
The robbery/homicide took place at 9:04 PM. The suspect walks into a convenience store at 9, sticks the gun in the clerk's face by 9:03, then kills him and the other two customers and grabs the money a minute later. He's caught on camera, and fits the description of Luther. Luther's statement was that he was home, alone, watching an adult film that started at 8:55. His home is about twenty minutes from the store.  
  
That's not too good of an alibi, I said.  
  
Perhaps an explanation is in order. Our client, Luther, is on probation after a three-month jail sentence for larceny. He's accused of both armed robbery and three counts of murder. When we talked to him when we first took the case, he looked in our eyes and said:  
  
"All right. I'm not a model citizen. I steal, fine...but I didn't kill anybody, I swear!"  
  
Angelica has been a lawyer for a long time, she's good at telling lies from the truth. She believed every word he said.  
  
I trust Angelica's judgment...but the jury we had to convince tomorrow may be tougher.  
  
What about the playing machine he used to watch the movie...does it record the times a specific movie is watched?  
  
No, Ampriss...VCR's aren't all that sophisticated, and he even said he ordered it on pay-per-view. That's no good.  
  
Paper view? What's that? I thought he watched in on television.  
  
Not "paper view"...pay-per-view. It's a service the cable company provides. You order a movie by phone, and it is sent to your cable box a few minutes later. The charge for it will show up on your cable bill.  
  
Would the cable bill say what time a movie is ordered?  
  
I thought this was a meaningless question, and that it wouldn't help us any. Fortunately, I was wrong.  
  
That might be it! That cable bill might prove that Luther ordered that movie! Ampriss, you might have saved his life! We need to find that bill!  
  
We got up and looked for the phone book, to get the number for Luther's cable company. Our search was interrupted by a noise from somewhere else in the house.  
  
What was that?!?  
  
I don't know, Ampriss...I think someone just kicked the door in!  
  
We're not expecting anyone, are we?  
  
No....  
  
I didn't give her any time to finish. I immediately seized control. I knew what was probably happening.  
  
My number's up. I don't need a phone book right now, I need my Dracon beam!  
  
I scrambled over to the safe where I kept it. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough.  
  
TSEEEEWW!  
  
Everything went black. 


	4. 7 The Face of Death and 8 The Shocker

Drastic times call for drastic measures. I think these two chapters are the best so far.  
  
Anifan1: Ampriss and Angelica had been working all day. Angelica's memory is better than Ampriss's. Ampriss forgot that the movie was on pay-per- view. And she never reads Angelica's memories without permission, so she couldn't "remember" that way.  
  
Jay's "Five Minutes" will be revealed eventually...just be patient :o)  
  
Lastly, This is probably going to be long. I figure I still have about 10 more chapters in this thing.  
  
Here we go.  
  
Chapter 7: Ampriss  
  
SPLASH!  
  
Angelica woke up in terror.  
  
I woke up relaxed. I knew what was going on. We were about to be interrogated.  
  
I looked around. Apparently, we hadn't been out for too long, because we appeared to be in Angelica's walk-in closet. We were tied to a chair, and a strip of duct tape was over our mouth.  
  
A large human in a plain, black shirt set the bucket down. He must have been my alarm clock.  
  
"Sub-Visser...she's up."  
  
Black Shirt was quite tall...maybe six feet, five inches by human measurements, and with a solid build.  
  
I've seen this guy before...  
  
But before I could think, someone else walked in. We've definitely seen this one before.  
  
"Ampriss Seven-Six-Five. I'm glad you were home. I need to talk to you, and it's most urgent."  
  
I could almost see the arrogance dripping out of his mouth.  
  
Ampriss! What's going on? What are they going to do?!?  
  
Calm down, Angelica. I'll get us through this.  
  
The Sub-Visser yanked the tape off our mouth, but I made sure we didn't show that it hurt.  
  
I wasn't going to show any fear at all.  
  
"What do you want, Sub-Visser? I'm very busy right now."  
  
"Calm down, Ampriss. You mustn't be so stubborn. You'll only make things worse."  
  
Black Shirt went out the door, and sat down outside the closet. I couldn't make out what he was doing...  
  
"Now, Ampriss, I'd like this to be as fast and as painless as possible. Just give me some names of your friends, and I'll promise I'll let you go back to work. I hear your client needs you."  
  
How does he know about Luther?!? Angelica asked.  
  
That monster. He knows that a human life depends on me and Angelica right now...he picked a perfect time to try and torture me.  
  
I don't know, Angelica...just calm down and relax.  
  
"I won't let you find them."  
  
"All right. That's a pity. It appears I need to conduct more drastic measures. Forsil Three-Two-Six, bring in my new toy."  
  
Forsil 326. That's Black Shirt's name. Now I knew.  
  
Forsil 326. Most Yeerks call her a hero. Members of the movement, however, have another name for her.  
  
She slaughtered two helpless Andalites. She slaughtered countless Hork- Bajir before that. That's why we call her "The Butcher."  
  
Forsil brought in the new "toy". When I saw it, I was petrified. When Angelica saw it, she was confused.  
  
Ampriss...why does he have my vacuum cleaner?  
  
He's going to try and torture me with it.  
  
What? How...oh...oh no...he can't do that!!!  
  
Calm down, you'll be fine.  
  
Something told me that my reassurances weren't going to keep Angelica calm for long.  
  
"You see, Ampriss...everyone knows that the best way to scare a Yeerk is with a Vanarx...the Yeerkbane. Unfortunately, one wasn't available. We had to borrow your host's vacuum cleaner on short notice. I hope she doesn't mind."  
  
I tried not to flinch...but both Angelica and me were coming unglued.  
  
"No answer? Very well..."  
  
Sub-Visser 57 turned the vacuum cleaner on.  
  
"I'll give you one last chance! Give up your accomplices or you'll be sucked up like dust!!"  
  
I couldn't take it anymore. Neither could Angelica. We began to panic.  
  
Sub-Visser 57 brought the vacuum cleaner closer.  
  
Six inches.  
  
Four inches.  
  
I began to scream.  
  
Two inches.  
  
I'm sorry, Angelica, please forgive me!  
  
This was it. This was my final moment. I tried to prepare myself.  
  
One inch.  
  
And then...  
  
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!!  
  
Chapter 8: Ampriss.  
  
Sub-Visser 57 dropped the vacuum.  
  
I looked up to see what happened.  
  
I saw Forsil standing over the Sub-Visser with an electric stun gun.  
  
What...What happened?  
  
I think Forsil decided change sides, Angelica...  
  
Forsil began untying us. I couldn't help myself, I had to ask.  
  
"Why, Forsil? Why?"  
  
Forsil put the stun gun away, and finished untying us.  
  
"Put simply: I'm tired. Tired of all this. I just want to live. And I don't want to see another innocent person die. I've seen enough of them."  
  
Ampriss...What does he mean?  
  
Forsil is a female Yeerk in a male body, Angelica. She's been a veteran of many battles...and she's well known for her viciousness.  
  
I felt I had to say something.  
  
"Forsil...if you ever need someone to talk to, the peace movement will help. We can make sure you are at peace."  
  
"I seriously doubt that."  
  
What? What did that mean?  
  
"Forsil...I'm not kidding. We can keep you safe."  
  
"Ampriss...I hate to disappoint you...but your numbers are pitiful. You can't keep me safe. You couldn't stand up to an inquisition, so don't try to convince me to join."  
  
"Inquisition? What?"  
  
"Eventually, one of you will be found. They will give names. Those names will be found, and they will give more names, and so on. Your movement will be crushed."  
  
"But no one is on to us yet...well, except him."  
  
Forsil looked me in the eyes.  
  
"Sub-Visser 57 said he found you alone. I believed him. He was also acting alone, I am the only other Yeerk that knows we're here tonight."  
  
"You'll keep my secret safe, won't you?"  
  
"I will. But he won't." Forsil looked at the Sub-Visser's body...which seemed to be coming to!  
  
"He's getting up! He'll be awake soon!"  
  
"Then I guess I'll have to put him to sleep permanently."  
  
I shuddered.  
  
"You can't...his host!"  
  
"His host will be fine. Vanarxes don't harm the host...much." Forsil began to tie the comatose Sub-Visser up.  
  
Vanarx?  
  
"No! He doesn't deserve that!"  
  
"There is no choice. If he leaves, we will both be hunted down and killed."  
  
He's right...dammit, it's horrible, but he's right!  
  
Angelica's statement just made it sting so much more.  
  
"I will not let another Yeerk be murdered in my presence!"  
  
"Ampriss, what were you doing when I stunned you?"  
  
"I had just found a way to clear my client of his charges."  
  
"Is your client really guilty of those charges?"  
  
"No, he is innocent. I swear."  
  
The Sub-Visser stopped stirring.  
  
"TRAITOR! I will see you burn!"  
  
Forsil tuned him out.  
  
"Then go save your client, Ampriss. I'll save us."  
  
Forsil then pushed us out of the room, then closed and barred the door.  
  
I should have went back to the casework. I would not have heard the two most chilling sounds of my life.  
  
One was human screams.  
  
The other was my host's vacuum cleaner at full power. 


	5. 9 A Requiem For the Killers and 10 Unacc...

Ouch. This was not a good poker day for me. When I had a big pair (Kings), Someone else had Aces and squashed me. When I had Aces, and someone else had a big pair (Queens), he got there and beat my Aces.  
  
Sigh.  
  
Anyway...my poker loss is my writing's gain I guess.  
  
Phillip (Triple Point) Walker: On the "Andalite bandits" front, don't worry, we're getting there.  
  
These chapters are a little short, like the first two...but that way you can enjoy them faster. :o)  
Chapter 9:Forsil  
  
And that was that.  
  
The Sub-Visser was dead. His host had fainted from the commotion.  
  
And, in a way, you could argue that I was dead too.  
  
If this was ever found out, I would be executed immediately. Jay probably would too.  
  
I had to trust Ampriss, a Yeerk I had known for roughly ten minutes.  
  
There was a grim shadow over my mind.  
  
I originally questioned myself when I killed those two Andalites on the Hork-Bajir homeworld. I said it was a war, and that it was justified.  
  
I wasn't at war with Sub-Visser 57.  
  
I thought that the Andalites were filth, and that they deserved it.  
  
Sub-Visser 57 was filth too. Does he deserve it?  
  
It seems every day, I create another "question" that I cannot answer. Was it right to kill the Andalites? Was it right to kill the Sub-Visser?  
  
Was it right to kill at all?  
  
We left soon thereafter. Amppriss said we would be safe if we let her help us.  
  
Unfortunately, I'm not naive enough to believe that she can.  
  
We took her business card, and left.  
  
I didn't want to participate any more.  
  
I left. I went home and slept.  
  
Then I was going to let Jay play cards.  
  
And I was going to let him be free.  
Chapter 10: Jay  
  
Nine-Four.  
  
Queen-Deuce.  
  
King-Trey.  
  
Eight-Five.  
  
Garbage. Nothing but garbage.  
  
Sigh. I've been sitting here for an hour and I still haven't picked up any hand worth playing.  
  
Hey, a pair!  
  
Deuce-Deuce. More garbage.  
  
All right, that's it. If I sit here any longer I'm gonna go insane and blow off three month's work.  
  
Fine, Jay. If you want to go, we'll go.  
  
I've dropped about $100 so far, not even playing. I can feel myself about three inches away from throwing off a few grand in anger.  
  
I'm gonna vamoose while the vamoosin's good, as the cowboys said.  
  
We went home.  
  
That little debacle with the lawyer lady last night seemed to take the air out of Forsil's figurative sails. She bothered me less and less.  
  
I don't know what she's all worked up about. We had a problem, and we solved it the only way we know how.  
  
I'm reminded of a scene from the second Godfather movie. Michael Corleone is asked "Do you really feel you need to wipe out everyone?"  
  
I believe both a poker player like me and a ruthless killer like Forsil would agree with his answer.  
  
"No. Only my enemies."  
  
Some say a man's home is his castle. Personally, I think my castle's in a severe state of disrepair. Since I'm either on the road, playing cards, or doing something villainous, I'm never home for any reason other to sleep. All sorts of crap were strewn about everywhere. I don't think I could find my TV remote if my life depended on it.  
  
Hey Forsil, let me watch some TV. There's gotta be something useful on.  
  
Whatever, suit yourself.  
  
Suddenly, the immovable iron that was my body became movable water again.  
  
I fell over and landed right on my ass.  
  
This was a new development. I haven't been allowed to walk around in my house since that day I decided I needed to find people to socialize with and NOT try to rob them of their money.  
  
That was the day I went to my first Sharing meeting.  
  
Hey, Forsil...  
  
...  
  
Forsil, you there?  
  
...  
  
HELLOOOOOO?!?  
  
Gah! What?!? What's going on? What do you want?  
  
I've been wondering...what's this all about?  
  
What's what all about?  
  
Okay. Stop being irritating. Tell me why I can move my hand.  
  
Put simply: I'm done.  
  
What do you mean you're done?  
  
Don't be so dense. You know what I mean.  
  
She didn't want to be on the team anymore. Granted, her team was a pretty crappy one to be on, since they strive for world domination and frequently make examples of each other, but she didn't want to be a part of it anymore.  
  
Ummm, Forsil...If you blow off your little Yeerk friends, you won't be able to get into the pool. You'll die.  
  
Don't you think I know that?  
  
And what happens to me? Your friends won't be too happy to see me exercising my muscles on my own accord.  
  
You're smart. You'll figure it out.  
  
Uh oh.  
  
I took a second to figure out what that meant.  
  
Either I'd never be able to show my face anywhere in this town again, or I'd be "reassigned" to another Yeerk.  
  
That was unacceptable. I need that slug now. I think that it's better than living on the run forever, or than being with a slug who tortures me for kicks.  
  
Forsil isn't allowed to leave. I won't let her.  
  
Suddenly, I feel a memory washing over me. I was playing a No-Limit game, stakes way too high for what I could really afford. As one of the best players to ever play the game put it, "You can never run away from bad luck."  
  
I had pocket Aces. Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds. Red Eyes. You see it once every 220 hands. The best hand there is.  
  
I flopped another Ace, giving me top set. I bet everything.  
  
I got called by this crazy Asian guy. He turned over the Jack and Trey of clubs. There were two clubs already on the board. All I had to do was to dodge a club twice, and I'd be rich enough to take a vacation for a long time.  
  
What happened? Not one, but two clubs showed their faces.  
  
My beautiful Red Eyes got flushed down the drain...along with about $7,500.  
  
All to some degenerate rich gambler who could accurately be described as a "lucky idiot".  
  
I was "between bankrolls" (poker player slang for "broke on my ass") for months after that. It took forever to build up enough cash just to play a $1-$2 game comfortably.  
  
Forsil's at the end of her rope. She's between bankrolls, just like I was.  
  
I got out of my predicament by vowing to myself that I could, and would, turn it around.  
  
Why exactly have I decided to help the alien slug that tortured me in the past? It's pretty good question. I shouldn't help her at all. Living on the run would have been easier than what I was about to bring upon myself. When I think about it now, I should have just went over to Home Depot, bought a vacuum cleaner, "exorcised" myself and skipped town.  
  
Instead, I grabbed the business card I swiped last night. I called up the lawyer lady.  
  
She said: "We can make sure you are at peace."  
  
Forsil, get up. I'm checking you into the Betty Ford Center.  
  
The what?  
  
The other end of the line came alive.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hi. Angelica, right? I'm Jay. We met last night..." 


	6. The Voices In Your Head

Yowza. Was your Easter weekend as good as mine? A third place finish in Friday's poker tourney and a win in the freeroll tourney on Sunday netted me $400.  
  
Not bad for a $15 investment.  
  
In other news, I'm starting up another story..."The Hero". It's quite a bit different than this one, though. A little less realism, and a lot more fun. If you take the time to read it, thanks. If you take the time to review it, I'll give you a cut of my winnings from this weekend.  
  
(Author's Note: The previous sentence was an outright lie, but review it anyway :o) )  
  
We're going to do something a bit different this time. Instead of the usual two chapters, this installment is a single conversation between Jay and Forsil en route to meet Ampriss. ** is Forsil talking, $$ is Jay talking.  
  
Voices In Your Head: "I Know You Are, But..."  
  
**Jay, this is idiocy. Why are you taking to me to Ampriss? She won't be able to help either of us. Just get some luggage and get lost.  
  
$$I don't know what the hell is wrong with you, but guess what? We're now tied together. If one of us dies, the other dies. And I will not let you get me killed with your death wish.  
  
**Death wish? I'm not doing anything drastic. I'm just going to live out my time left before I starve, then exit your head before my final death throes. You don't want to experience that.  
  
$$Hello?!? If you die I'm gonna end up in a Taxxon's stomach or the new whipping boy for some Yeerk grunt with an inferiority complex! You can't do that to me.  
  
**It's out of my hands, even though I don't have any hands to hold it with.  
  
$$You know what, Forsil? I realized something.  
  
**What's that?  
  
$$I hate you.  
  
**What else is new? You've hated me ever since you tried to resist that first week I took up residence here.  
  
$$I don't care that you replayed that accident over and over again.  
  
**Oh really? Every single time I made you relive it you were crying and begging me to stop. I've watched you play cards for a long time, Jay...your lie detecting skills are starting to rub off on me.  
  
$$I'm not proud of what happened that night. It was an accident, I've moved on.  
  
**It's okay to attempt to lie to me. You should not lie to yourself.  
  
$$HEY! I've put it behind me! I'm not bothered by it anymore!  
  
**No you haven't, Jay. You killed your father that day. Sure, he was beating your mother and was about to attack you, but you killed him just the same. You plunged that knife right into his chest. You had blood all over you. And you know what, Jay? You still wish you had a father to look up to.  
  
...  
  
$$I should head to a home center right now and get a Vac-U-Suck 10000. I should kill you.  
  
**Go ahead.  
  
$$I know what you're doing, and it won't work.  
  
**What's that? Encouraging you to do something sensible for once?  
  
$$No, you're trying to get out of the meeting with Ampriss. Come hell or high water, you're going.  
  
**You can't force me to do anything. As a matter of fact, I could take control of this car and crash it. Both of our troubles will end that way.  
  
$$But you won't. Why? Because you told yourself you wouldn't kill again.  
  
**You know what, Jay?  
  
$$What?  
  
**You're a thief. You spend your time taking money from people who don't know any better. You steal it and use it for yourself.  
  
$$Oh really, Saint Forsil? How many lives have you snuffed out? You say I'm a thief, well, you're a murderer.  
  
...  
  
**I guess we're in the same boat then, huh?  
  
$$Yup. Now do you want to go kicking and screaming or do you want to be mature about this?  
  
**All right, I'll meet with Ampriss. I bet it will be a waste of time though.  
  
$$You're on, Forsil. 


	7. 11 Circumventing Hypocrisy and 12 Enemy ...

Wow...it's been almost a week since I last updated. Chalk up to a little writer's block, a little burnout, a little poker misfortune, and a LOT of school issues. Isn't college supposed to be fun, not work? Sigh.  
  
Anyway, I realized that I have a duty to my fans...all...  
  
(counts his reviewers)  
  
...FIVE of them. And dammit, I am NOT leaving you guys hanging!  
  
I ended up doing what I did when I couldn't think of a good way to end my English paper last semester. I went to Blockbuster Video. Inspiration at about $4 a week. After renting two of my favorite movies, I'm ready to get back on track again. Here we go.  
  
Chapter 11: Forsil  
  
The meeting was where I'd expected it to be: Angelica's office. It was in a crowded downtown area near the courthouse. I guess it was chosen for its proximity, not its accessibility. It was very difficult to locate the building in the first place, and then even more excruciating when we tried to locate a place to park Jay's vehicle.  
  
Instead of arriving an hour early as we planned, we were fifteen minutes late.  
  
Jay, I don't know how the Yeerk invasion will end, but when it does, you humans MUST do something about traffic congestion. This is ludicrous.  
  
Amen to that. I'll make sure to drop that in the President's suggestion box.  
  
Jay's sarcasm usually irritates me, but I've grown accustomed to it as of late. It's very unusual for a Yeerk and its host to keep this kind of rapport with each other, even more so when both claim to hate each other.  
  
All right, Forsil. This is your intervention. That means you get to drive. Take control and take me in, so you can talk to Angie.  
  
Angie? Who's that?  
  
Short for "Angelica," genius.  
  
I began to take control. I fitted within Jay's brain crevices, and attached myself to his neural structure.  
  
In Jay's words, I'm driving now.  
  
* * *  
  
After a little trouble convincing the receptionist that we were not clients, we were here to visit Angelica, (Jay looks like a thug, kind of a byproduct of his profession: "income redistribution") we found Angelica's office. She was in there, surrounded by quite a large load of paperwork. Apparently, she had quite a caseload.  
  
Did I recognize that secretary form somewhere? I've seen her before...oh well...doesn't really matter.  
  
"Mr. Mitchell...come in."  
  
I closed the door behind me and took a seat.  
  
"Let's remember who we are, Ampriss. My name is Forsil, not Jay Mitchell."  
  
"If my memory serves me right, Forsil does not want to be here. This is a request from Jay. So, I thought he'd be in control."  
  
Hmmm. Made sense. She seemed to remember the details from the phone conversation she had with Jay.  
  
"Well, I'm in control at his request. And I'll be honest with you, I believe that this will be a waste of time."  
  
"No, letting yourself die and have Jay get either terminated or "reassigned" to another Yeerk would be a waste. I see this as an efficiency session."  
  
"I see. All right then, Ampriss Seven-Six-Five. Since you seem to be such an expert in efficiency, tell me what you think I should do."  
  
"I've been thinking about our conversation, Forsil. I've come to a conclusion."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"You have a dark soul. You're a killer. And no matter what, a killer is what you'll always be."  
  
That remark hurt. It's as if I just had my innards cut open and removed. And I know what that feels like. Once, when my Hork-Bajir host continued to resist me, I slit my host's stomach with his own wrist blades; then I showed it what its stomach looked like. After feeling most of its pain, I left that host before it died. With a reputation like mine, one can get away with mindlessly destroying hosts.  
  
It took a few moments to formulate a response to that.  
  
"Well, Ampriss...what do you believe I should do about that then? Last time I checked, your movement was opposed to killing. So explain to me how you expect to have me and not be total hypocrites?"  
  
"No need. I'm not going to have you. I'm going to give you a way to...let's say: "channel" your aggression."  
  
She was treating me like a savage animal. But, wasn't I exactly that?  
  
"Forsil, the Empire is a cancer upon the galaxy, and you know it. It will not stop until everything has been either destroyed of infested. Once, you may have loved the war, but after your visit to my home two nights ago, I believe otherwise. Now, you want this to end, so you may be at peace. Am I right?"  
  
"I guess you are."  
  
"You can fight the Empire. You can destroy it from within. And, I've contacted someone. He won't be able to help you fight, but he knows a few who can."  
  
Ampriss reached over to the intercom to call her secretary.  
  
"Alisha, bring Erek in."  
  
Chapter 12: Ampriss.  
  
Do you think Forsil's going to play ball, Ampriss? Angelica asked.  
  
I hope so, Angelica. We need allies, and we need them bad.  
  
It seems quite dangerous. Isn't Forsil really mean? I mean, he did kill that kidnapper guy in cold blood, right?  
  
Yes, SHE did. But I believed her host when he says Forsil's at a crossroads. I hope this idea works.  
  
Alisha, Naafin 661, and Erek walked in.  
  
Well, technically, Alisha is Naafin's host. Naafin is a member of the movement, and Alisha supports or ideals. Alisha, Naafin, Angelica and I get along very well here. I'm glad to have them around.  
  
Erek, on the other hand, was the wild card here. Although he's been connected to the peace movement since its inception, he's always been a little secretive, even by Yeerk standards. There seems to be something not quite right about him.  
  
Anyway, no time to worry about that now.  
  
"Hello, Forsil. Hello, Ampriss."  
  
Forsil looked a little puzzled. Make that very puzzled.  
  
"A junior high school kid? Ampriss, what's this?"  
  
I was about to answer, but I didn't need to. Erek spoke for me.  
  
"I may not look like much, but trust me, there's a lot more to me than you think."  
  
"What's your name and designation?"  
  
"Don't worry about that."  
  
Forsil seemed to get defensive. I guess I would too in that position.  
  
"Okay, "Erek". Explain to me who you know that can...as Ampriss says: 'channel my agression.'"  
  
"Let me ask you a question, Forsil. How do you interpret this saying: 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend?'"  
  
"Truthfully, I believe in it, but I have been unable to practice it. The Yeerk military's enemies don't have any other "enemies" for me to befriend. I guess if an opportunity arose, Id work with the others to accomplish what I need to."  
  
"Very well then, Forsil..."  
  
Here it comes. This is where the war proves that it is completely senseless. Erek's next line shook up Forsil, and with good reason:  
  
"Forsil, how do you feel about working with the Andalite bandits?" 


	8. 13 Make the Decision and 14 Molding the ...

All right! Just cleared another $135 at the casino. I'm having a great week. But it's time to finally get off my lazy beep and get cracking. Here we go!  
  
Chapter 13: Jay.  
  
"Andalites? You actually have contact with them? How?"  
  
Well, this meeting just got interesting.  
  
Here we are, trying to make sure Forsil doesn't kill herself (and by extension, me) and our solution is to join a guerrilla group? Great.  
  
Erek continued: "They actually helped the peace movement since its inception."  
  
Well, Forsil's a little off balance.  
  
Of course I am! I didn't know Ampriss was so close to the enemy!  
  
Well, it looks like you're going to be making friends with them.  
  
Forsil decided to speak her mind out loud with my mouth:  
  
"I don't know what's more of a shock...the fact that Yeerks are helping Andalites, or the fact that I may join them!"  
  
Angie, or maybe it was Ampriss, responded: "We're offering you a chance to do what you know is right. A chance to make up for all the sins of your past."  
  
"May I have a moment to think about this?"  
  
"Of course, Forsil."  
  
So...Forsil...what do you think?  
  
I don't know. I really don't.  
  
Well...if you ask me, I think it's slightly ludicrous. But to be fair, your race isn't a bunch of angels. I think your crew needs to be stopped. But I'm a human...what do I know?  
  
Jay, please. I need to consider this.  
  
All right...but if you still can't decide, do what I do when I need to make a decision.  
  
I could feel Forsil scanning me, trying to figure out what I do.  
  
Most casinos don't have fifty-cent chips. They usually give out half-dollar coins when they need to pay out in those increments. I have quite a collection of halves.  
  
Half-dollars are the USA's biggest coin. Both the markings on the front and back are quite large, so they're easy to feel for the vision impaired.  
  
Or someone who can rig coin flips like me.  
  
I can toss it up, grab it in the air, feel which side is going to come up, and flip it over if I want to, all in one motion. It's pretty easy to do.  
  
Heads, I do this. Tails, I do that. I toss it up, and subconsciously, I'll make sure the side I want comes up.  
  
I've always trusted my instincts to pick right for me. The only time it failed is when I asked myself if I wanted to join the Sharing.  
  
All right, Jay, we'll give it a try.  
  
We took out the coin.  
  
Heads we join the Andalites. Tails we stick with the Empire.  
  
Forsil gave it a toss. She snagged it in the air. I could feel it too. Tails was going to come up.  
  
But Forsil flipped it over.  
  
She held out Kennedy's face for Erek, Angie, and Ampriss to see.  
  
"Heads. I guess we're Andalite terrorists now."  
  
Ampriss was slightly surprised. "That's how you decide? A flip of a coin?"  
  
"Yup. That's that idea."  
  
Erek seemed to enjoy the outcome. "All right, so be it. I'll go make contact with them, and set up a meeting. What time is good for you?"  
  
"Erek, I play poker at all hours of the day. Any time is good for me. Just let Angie know and she'll send it my way."  
  
Ampriss looked at Erek. Looks like we have a decision.  
  
"All right, Forsil. We'll be in touch."  
  
Great. I'm now a DOUBLE AGENT in a world domination conspiracy. What next? Do I need to steal nuclear launch codes?  
  
Not now, Jay. We need to go. It's feeding time anyway.  
  
We left the place. We went to the pool.  
  
Hey Forsil...a request.  
  
What?  
  
Tell the guys there I'm a voluntary now. I am so sick of sitting in a cage for hours. I won't do anything.  
  
There was a little hesitation. Forsil was verifying my story.  
  
All right. I'll let them know.  
  
* * *  
  
Chapter 14: Jay.  
  
Screams. Torture. Cages. Fast Food.  
  
The Yeerk pool.  
  
After dropping Forsil off for a swim, I headed to the "voluntary" area...a nice little hole. They had some burgers and drinks if you wanted some.  
  
I relaxed. Well, I relaxed the best I could with the screaming and begging going on a few yards away.  
  
When my name came up, I went to collect Forsil. She climbed in and took control.  
  
Jay, I need to meet with someone.  
  
Who?  
  
Visser Three.  
  
All I know about this Visser Three guy is he's the guy in charge of this whole invasion thing...and his host body is an Andalite. He liked to yell a lot too. I think I've only seen him once.  
  
A few minutes later, I was looking at a blue centaur thing with the following changes: No mouth, two mobile eyes atop his head, too many fingers per arm, and a scorpion-like tail with a wicked blade at the end. He can do some damage if he's in the mood.  
  
"Oh great Visser Three! May the Kandrona shine and strengthen you!"  
  
Same to you, Forsil 326.  
  
Andalites don't have mouths...so they have a telepathy thing instead. You can hear him through walls.  
  
Jeez, Forsil...why must we always suck up to the higher ranking guys?  
  
Delusions of grandeur, remember?  
  
Oh yeah.  
  
The Visser began his spiel:  
  
Forsil 326, I am now giving you a permanent assignment. You are now going to be responsible for training new recruits for the Blue Band special force. We have recently built a training facility in the wilderness, and you will train them to become great warriors as you are. Do you accept?  
  
"Of course, Visser. When do I begin?"  
  
In thirty-six hours. You will receive the details on your way out. And Forsil...do not disappoint me.  
  
"I will not, Visser."  
  
Forsil, who are the Blue Bands?  
  
A special force of Hork-Bajir Controllers. The Hork-Bajir they have are specially bred to be larger and stronger, and only the most fanatical Yeerks may infest them.  
  
And we're going to train these guys?  
  
Yes.  
  
Cool. I always wanted to be a drill seargeant.  
  
* * *  
  
Author's Note: Well, there we go. We've finally made the connection to everyone's favorite teenagers. The upcoming two chapters will be posted as normal, then there will be another "Voices" chapter.  
  
Side Author's note: I've been having a great week at the poker table...in training for the big day on Saturday. Starting at 1:00 PST, I'll be competing for a $10,000 prize at PokerPages.com. I'll have to run through over 500 opponents (Second place wins you nothing. You must win it all.), but I'm going to give it my best shot. So, I'll be online on AIM name "ASixHighStraight" from around 12:30 PST to whenever my game ends. If I get to the end...it should last eight hours. If you drop me a line or wish me luck...I'll appreciate it. 


	9. 15 Getting the Edge and 16 Make More of ...

I'd like to share with you a snippet of conversation I had before a poker tournament this morning. All poker players can relate poker to life some way, and what I said was pretty insightful, now that I think about it.  
  
I'd been on a hot streak as of late. (Technically, it's got nothing to do with luck. I've changed my style dramatically, from a cautious style to an aggressive one. It's worked wonders for me.) Since a lot of the same players fill the poker room day after day, everyone knows whether you're running good or running bad. Tom, a player who's almost always at the casino (I honestly think he lives there: sleeps in his car and does the laundry once every few weeks. He probably lives off the free drinks and cheap food.), had gone busted. He knows I'm on the up and up, so he comes to me:  
  
Tom: "Hey, Tomm...you're playing real well."  
  
(Yeah, we're both named "Tom"...but my name has two M's: "Tomm")  
  
Me: "Yeah...ups and downs...what's up?"  
  
Tom: "Man, that Hold'em game is been eating me alive...can't hit any cards at all."  
  
Me: "How much are you down?"  
  
Tom: "I lost all my money. Can ya put me up in this tourney? If I get paid we'll chop it up."  
  
("Get paid" means make it to the final table of the tournament, where the prizes are awarded. If he wins a prize, he'd split it with me.)  
  
Me: "All right, on one condition. Tell me why you're broke."  
  
Tom: "I told you, I can't catch a card."  
  
Me: "Winners don't just keep in line waiting for the good cards. They draw their own line, and make their average cards into winners. I'll put you up today. But you better play to win, not to just catch cards. Get in there and make it happen. If you lose, the buy-in's on me...but you better be trying."  
  
Tom looked a little confounded, but he let what I said sink in. I handed him enough money for the buy-in, and we went to go play.  
  
Well, that's it. Interpret it however you want. :o)  
  
Side note: Is it really relevant how the tournament turned out for Tom? If you must know, you can email me at KingBlingAA@hotmail.com ...but it's the message, not the story, y'know?  
  
Chapter 15: Jake  
  
I didn't like it at all.  
  
It just seemed too convenient. This big-shot Yeerk just decides she doesn't want to be part of the invasion anymore, and now wants to sell them out to us? It had "TRAP" written all over it...in a lot of languages.  
  
"How can you actually be sure she's honest about this?" Rachel asked.  
  
"One of the main members of the Peace movement, Ampriss 765, is vouching for her. Ampriss says she's being honest. She's given me her utmost confidence," Erek replied.  
  
We were all assembled in Cassie's barn. Erek, our alien android pacifist, came to bring this to our attention. Me, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias (in the rafters), and even Ax, in Andalite form.  
  
I finally spoke up:  
  
"Erek, how did the idea of 'her helping us' come out? Don't tell me she thought of it."  
  
"No, I did."  
  
Marco interrupted: "WHAT? You actually told her about us? Are you INSANE?"  
  
"No, I just tossed the 'Andalite Bandits' idea out there. She doesn't know you're human...well, mostly..." Erek looked in Ax's direction.  
  
"All right, hold on," I put my hand up. "We have a potential Yeerk double agent. She might be able to help us out a lot, or it may be the end of us..."  
  
"Jake, I swear, she's honest about this!" Erek exclaimed.  
  
"...So we need a vote. We can see what she has to say or we can tell her to get lost. Well?"  
  
Cassie was first to speak. "Well, if she's as honest as Erek says she is, how can we really turn her down? We can't let her attempt to help us pass us by. Let's meet her."  
  
Rachel responded. "This is just asking for trouble. That Yeerk will probably sell us out the first chance she gets. I say let her fight them on her own."  
  
Marco was next. "This thing stinks to high heaven...but we'll still shorthanded in the Earth vs. Yeerks game. We need all the help we can get, so I vote for meeting her...but don't say I didn't warn ya."  
  
My last experience with a Yeerk "celebrity", I'd like to forget, Tobias added. But really, can they really all be bad? After all, that "Aftran" that Cassie met turned out okay. We can't just write off a whole race, even if they live by taking over other people, just because their leaders are crazy. We should meet her.  
  
"Exactly!" Cassie exclaimed.  
  
"What do you think, Ax? Your vote matters here."  
  
I, as always, will follow my prince. But I have heard of this Forsil. She's slaughtered a lot of helpless Andalites and Hork-Bajir. She is a ruthless killer. I believe we should "leave her for the mother loving rats".  
  
" 'Leave her for the mother loving rats?' Where'd that come from?" Marco wondered. "Been watching Dirty Harry?"  
  
"Full Metal Jacket" actually. It was on last night. Tobias said.  
  
My turn to speak. "Okay, we have three in favor, and two against. Rachel and Ax, I understand your concerns, but you both know we need every edge we can get in this fight. So I'm voting to meet her. Erek, you have our decision."  
  
Erek sighed in relief...if androids like him can actually do that. "Great. When would you like to meet her? She can be available at any time, and I mean any time."  
  
I responded: "Well...tomorrow's Saturday..."  
Chapter 16: Jay  
  
Why a public park? It seems so lame. Why couldn't we just do it in a back alley or something? I wondered.  
  
It's where they wanted to meet. So we're going to be good and do what they say.  
  
We were sitting on one of those double-sided park benches...where people can sit back to back. Turns out, that was a relevant request.  
  
After a few minutes of wasting time via staring aimlessly at the clouds, he came.  
  
"Do not turn around. Ound. Face forward. Erd."  
  
"I gather you're my appointment for this afternoon? The visitor from out of town."  
  
"Correct. I am here to hear what you have to say. Speak, and be quick. Ick."  
  
My poker instincts make me wonder why someone does anything unusual. If you know the reason, you might make (or save) a lot of money.  
  
I wonder why he's mincing words...  
  
Who knows? An Andalite should be able to do speech easily. Forsil replied.  
  
"Very well. I heard you and those you represent can use a little help in their endeavors. I believe I know of a way to help you."  
  
"Such as? Azz?"  
  
"My name is Forsil 326. No doubt you've heard of me."  
  
"Yes, the butcher of the Battle of the Hork-Bajir. Eeer. Explain to me why I should trust you. Ust."  
  
"I've decided to do something for the Hork-Bajir people I worked so hard to enslave. I'm going to emancipate a few, and turn them over to you. I think you can find a place to put them."  
  
"Continue. Inyoo."  
  
"I am responsible for training a new attachment of the Blue Band Hork-Bajir force. Our training area is here," Forsil said as she tossed a Post-It note over my shoulder. "I believe they may have a training accident. No survivors."  
  
We heard the sound of him unraveling the piece of paper. He hesitated.  
  
"The time of the scheduled accident is on the note. Are you interested? Ested?" Forsil said, with a bit of a smirk.  
  
He had no immediate answer for our sudden stammering. After a few seconds, he finally said:  
  
"I believe we can attend your scheduled accident. In one minute, you may leave. Eeve."  
  
He walked away, although I couldn't see him do it. After a minute, we headed off too.  
  
You think this is gonna work, Forsil? Isn't what you're planning a little...well..."massacre-ish"?  
  
If there's one thing I know from my life's experiences, there's only one thing you can do about the dead.  
  
What's that?  
  
Make more of them.  
A/N: he Voices chapter is next. It may take a while to post, due to its importance. Patience is a virtue :o)  
  
Peace. 


	10. 17 The Humanity and 18 Plan B

Wow.  
  
Been a long time.  
  
To make a long story short, I went through one of those true "writer's block" episodes...most of the ideas I could come up with were any good. I'd jot down a note, realize it sucks, and toss it in the trash.  
  
Well, we're going to move on whether we have a good idea or not.  
  
Chapter 17: Jay  
  
"Make more of them."  
  
Man, that's a real cold phrase for you, in that context.  
  
It got me thinking.  
  
It's a mad, mad, mad world out there. It's really amazing how everything pans out the same way.  
  
Remember back around the end of 1999, when the new millenium was about to start? Everything was wild back then. Doomsday cults, looters. Lots of psychos around back then. The stories were all over the newspaper. But there was one little article that caught my eye.  
  
I don't remember the figure exactly, but the general gist of the article was an interesting statistic: Over the past 1,000 years, the human race has seen around 160 days without a war happening somewhere.  
  
That's a little over 5 months. The other 11,995 months had someone actually kill someone else because a third party (be it a government, religious group, or whatever) told them to. That's nearly 2,400 to 1. For every minute of peace, we'll have 40 hours of war.  
  
[Is that true?]  
  
[I think so. I believed it.]  
  
You got your Israelis and your Palestinians. Your English and your Northern Irish. Your Russians and your Chechens.  
  
Everyone's killing everybody.  
  
Even me.  
  
[You know what, Jay?]  
  
[No. What?]  
  
[Let's go play cards. We have a few hours before we're going to "transfer" the Hork-Bajir.]  
  
[I'm in no mood to play. I'll throw off a lot of chips. I'm better off just going home and relaxing.]  
  
There was a pause, as if Forsil was trying to say something.  
  
[Jay, let me replay a memory. An important one.]  
  
[Hell no.]  
  
[Not THAT one. The one that happened just a little while ago. When I first moved in.]  
  
Could I really refuse?  
  
* * *  
  
"Do you accept full responsibility of taking on the challenges and the sacrifices needed to become a member of the Sharing?" Chapman was saying.  
  
"Sure, I guess so," I replied. Why not? A friend of mine had mentioned the club to me, offhand, when I originally confessed that I wanted to meet some people without the intention of "redistributing" their money (into my pocket).  
  
Come to think of it, he hadn't joined. He just knew about it because some flyers were going around. Whatever The Sharing was, it certainly was big on publicity. Maybe it was an organization that was run by a rich family, and they needed new blood.  
  
In so many ways, my guess hadn't been far off from the truth.  
  
"All right. Come with me," Chapman replied. We walked down the stairs, and as we went further down, I could definitely make out some noises resembling screams.  
  
Yes. Screams.  
  
"Um, what's going on?" I asked. "It sounds like someone's being tortured."  
  
He laughed, somewhat cynically. "Nothing to worry about, Jay," Chapman replied, patting me on the back. "At any rate, we're almost there."  
  
What are they, watching a horror movie down there or something?  
  
Once we reached the bottom of the dark stairs, I could definitely tell that the screams were real, human, and yet...there were some screamers that were not human.  
  
"What are those green things?!" I asked, trying not to panic.  
  
"Those? Oh, don't worry about them. They're harmless."  
  
I play poker for a living. I'm good at noticing things. I noticed this: Creatures with blades up and down their body are not supposed to be harmless.  
  
Chapman then proceeded to explain to me what being a member of the Sharing meant. How I would have to be a host to a Yeerk. He then tried to tempt me with promises of fame, power, glory, and money.  
  
Apparently I'm supposed to allow myself to be a pawn in the conquest of the human race.  
  
One thing I always prided myself on when I play poker is I play it straight. No cheating. Nothing crooked. Just playing my best, and winning fair and square.  
  
I don't want to literally sell my soul to these people. Sure, I take money from people for a living, but it's HONEST nonetheless.  
  
I started running as fast as I could. The problem? They were ready for this.  
  
Chapman then got out a whistle, blew it, and several of those green monsters appeared out of nowhere and grabbed me. They then dragged me to the pool, and dunked my head in. Of course, I struggled against them, but it didn't take a genius to discover that even one of the blade monsters was more than a match for me.  
  
Forsil then entered my head, slowly paralyzing me until I couldn't even move my eyes. I could still breathe, speak, and move, and it was the Yeerk that was doing it for me. I was completely helpless, completely powerless to stop her.  
  
[ A gambler? How odd. ] she mused, opening my memories. [ Well, it's a change from the last human, I suppose. I'm Forsil 326, very high ranking and respected in the Yeerk Empire. I'd advise you not to resist me, because it simply can not be done. ]  
  
She said that last part with incredible arrogance.  
  
[ Great. There's an alien in my head, ] was all I could think of to say. Then, I tried once more to fight her for control. I almost had it, almost could move my eyes, when Forsil stopped me.  
  
[ I don't think so, human, ] she snapped, pressing down in my mind. [ In fact, I think I'll have to show you why you *shouldn't* resist me. ]  
  
She then replayed the worst five minutes of my life. It was much more real and vivid than I had remembered, probably because she was in charge. I could smell the blood, feel the knife that I used. I could hear my mom's screams, "Jay, get out of the way! Run! Call the police!" just before I had grabbed it from my dad. It hadn't been too hard; he was incredibly strong, but also obese and drunk at the time. I took the knife and stabbed it into his heart. His last words were, "You betrayed me! I didn't mean to do it!" just before he died.  
  
The memory stopped there. Forsil had little interest in what happened afterwards; how my mom had hugged me and told me how brave I was, how I did the right thing, and how we better call the police and let them know what had happened.  
  
Maybe if she had played the whole thing, those five minutes of hell wouldn't have been as terrible.  
  
I was breathing hard within my mind, sobbing.  
  
[ No! ] I screamed, pleading. [ Please, stop it! Stop the memories! ]  
  
We were out of the Yeerk pool area now; Forsil had walked me back to my car. Away from her friends, I guess, she was feeling less vengeful and slightly more merciful.  
  
[ Do you promise not to fight me? ] she demanded.  
  
[ Yes, I promise, I promise, just don't do that again, don't do that again! ] I rambled, still crying, still lost in the memory.  
  
Of course, I meant it at the time, but once the horror faded and I realized my situation with better clarity, there would be many more repeats of the memory. Forsil always stopped when I promised not to resist, but almost every time I eventually fought back.  
  
And every time I killed my father again.  
  
It took three days for me to learn my new place as a slave. A puppet. A suit. Within those three days, I must have listened to my dad's screams fifty times.  
  
* * *  
  
[Are you happy now?]  
  
[No, but I needed to do that. For me. I needed to remind myself why I'm doing this.]  
  
[Do me a favor. Get your own damn body.]  
  
The blood of my very own father was on my hands. And Forsil's brothers and sister's blood will soon be on hers.  
  
Chapter 18: Forsil  
  
One of the most interesting places I have been to is a place called "Home Depot."  
  
It claims to be a place where one can get working materials. It is actually a place to acquire weaponry.  
  
Although they're called "tools", they sell real implements of destruction. Axes, nailguns, chainsaws, drills. Great for injuring or torturing someone.  
  
We went there to prepare for the turning over of the Blue Band trainees. We made sure to get batteries for Jay's electric stun-gun. I couldn't use a Dracon beam, for that would prove that it was an inside job.  
  
Here was the tentative plan. We were going to transport the Hork-Bajir trainees by semi-truck. Another instructor and I would be driving. We'd have an escort.  
  
Step One: Eliminate the escort. Ampriss said she'd see to that. Let's just say that there were going to be a lot of police calls put in that night, that our police cover would need to be diverted.  
  
Step Two: Hijack the truck. I'll be next to the driver. I'll get him to pull over at a rest stop or something. Then jab the stun-gun into his stomach.  
  
Step Three: Dispose of the driver. I'm still working on that one.  
  
Step Four: Turn the truck over to the Andalites. That shouldn't be too difficult.  
  
The truck is reinforced. It'd be really difficult to destroy the truck from the outside with weapons.  
  
Or from the inside with wrist blades, for that matter.  
  
I was able to procure some sleeping gas canisters. Just as the Fugue sets in, I'll put them to sleep. Their minds will be utter chaos, but their bodies will be safe.  
  
Unfortunately, there still was a weak link.  
  
[What do I do with the driver?]  
  
[Do what they did to cheaters in Vegas. Dig a hole.]  
  
[I'm not going to bury someone alive again, Jay.]  
  
["Again"?]  
  
I had done that before.  
  
[Let's not go down that road.]  
  
[Here's a dumb idea. Let's head over to Charlie's. He sells prepaid cell phones. We give the driver a phone and some money from my bankroll. We explain to him he's never allowed to see his wife and kids again. We tell him he's just going to find a new life to live. Then we leave him there to rot until he figures out he can use his newfound cell phone to call a cab.]  
  
Jay's very imaginative, isn't he?  
  
[Still a problem. The Yeerk.]  
  
[I don't see how that's a problem.]  
  
[Stop being sarcastic, Jay.]  
  
[I'm not. We're at Home Depot here. We'll just do to him what we did to the Sub-Visser guy.]  
  
Home Depot. A weapons exchange. Axes, nailguns, chainsaws, drills...  
  
And vacuum cleaners.  
  
* * *  
  
Author's Note: We (and by "we" I mean me) would like to thank Emily, (Computercrazed19) for a major contribution to these chapters. Cheers. 


	11. 19 A GoingAway Present and 20 Convoy to ...

Well, I WAS supposed to have this up a few days ago. But unfortunately, I had a most unusual experience.  
  
SETTING: "TOMM" is lying in bed at 1 AM, trying to get some sleep for tomorrow morning's poker tournament.  
  
(TOMM is staring at the ceiling as the dark room is taken over be a blinding light.)  
  
TOMM: Huh?  
  
GOD: TOMM!! HEAR ME!  
  
TOMM: Gah! What the?!?  
  
GOD: DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?  
  
TOMM: No.  
  
GOD: I AM GOD. WHO ELSE IS SURROUNDED BY INFINITE LIGHT?  
  
TOMM: Britney Spears at a photo shoot?  
  
GOD: OKAY, FAIR ENOUGH. I HAVE COME TO GIVE YOU A WARNING. YOU ARE NOW A WALKING CURSE. EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE AROUND YOU WILL FALL APART.  
  
(TOMM wakes up from a dream.)  
  
TOMM: Weird.  
  
(TOMM then goes to the poker tournament. He then is dealt three huge hands in a row, all of them are disastrously drawn out on. He then goes to his money game where every hand he gets withers and dies. He then goes home after losing all his money to this huge bad luck streak, to find that his stepmother has gotten into a motorcycle accident. The next day, he then.)  
  
And it just goes on like this. I am literally afraid to come in contact with just about everything.  
  
You might want to stop reading this story right now.  
  
Reader Response:  
  
BMW: I did have a life, but I'm now too poor to have one. So I'm sitting at home and at work doing nothing, (trying not to do too much harm to myself or others) except for a little thingy I like to call "Project Aruba". I'll elaborate on that next time.  
  
Alara-Sirinial-Amalon: You better not die! You still need to finish your stories at Fictionpress!!  
  
Anifan1: Thanks for the heads-up on correcting the thought-speak issue. What would I do without you?  
  
Here we go, but be careful. If a black cat crosses your path right after you read this, I suggest you make sure your life insurance (and your relatives' life insurance) is paid up.  
  
Chapter 19: Forsil  
  
"Charlie's" is actually a business called "Crown Jewelry and Loan". Also known as a "pawnshop", it is a place where people who have some sort of valuable object can borrow money against it. Jay used to frequent this place when he was younger, when he was a less experienced poker player.  
  
[Sigh. Ever since I won that big one, I never thought I'd be back here.]  
  
[Well, we're here to make progress, not attempt to mend our losses.]  
  
[Umm.okay.]  
  
It was close to closing time for this business. Fortunately, we could do what we needed to do rather quickly, after all, the convoy was due to leave in a few hours, and we were supposed to be on it.  
  
[Permission to be myself.]  
  
[What?]  
  
[Let me be me, Forsil. Charlie is my friend.]  
  
I let go. Jay had difficulty maintaining his balance, as usual, but he eventually regained his composure. He then stepped inside.  
  
* * * Jay  
  
Charlie's not much to look at. Then again, you probably wouldn't expect a 5'9", 160 pound guy to be much to look at. Little do you know, that this guy's seen everything. He's been in shootouts, helped catch thieves, dealt in high priced diamonds, and saved the hides of little people like me when it comes time to pay the bills.  
  
"Jay? That you?"  
  
"That's my name."  
  
"What's happened this time? Full house under four of a kind? Or three Aces under a flush again?"  
  
"Nope. I'm not here to get money. I'm buying today."  
  
"Well, congratulations. What can I do for you?"  
  
"You're still selling cell phones, right?"  
  
"Yeah, but didn't I already sell you one?"  
  
"It's not for me, Charlie. It's for an acquaintance of mine. He's moving away. Call it a going-away present."  
  
"Okay. I can get you a great plan, unlimited minutes. . . "  
  
I cut him off: "I need prepaid. I don't see this guy using his phone for a long period of time. How much for about 200 minutes?"  
  
"It'll be about $150, phone and activation included. You need it activated now?"  
  
"Yup."  
  
"Okay. Coming right up."  
  
After a few minutes, we were ready to go. I made sure the new phone was in someone else's name: I put it under "Gus Marshall".  
  
[Who's Gus Marshall?]  
  
[Drop the "G" and add a plural to the end, Forsil.]  
  
[Then let me rephrase: Why "Us Marshalls"?]  
  
[Try U.S. Marshals. They handle the federal Witness Protection Program. They're the guys who destroy your life and make you a new one.]  
  
[You still didn't answer my. . .oh.]  
  
I don't know who was supposed to ride along with us in the convoy. He may be named Mike, John, Paul, James or Don.  
  
But within a few hours, his name is Gus.  
  
"Okay, Jay. You're all set. Anything else?"  
  
"Nah, Charlie. Thanks a lot," I said, as we walked out.  
  
Chapter 20: Forsil  
  
We were all set.  
  
There was a duffel bag to carry everything: We had the stun gun. We had a real pistol for emergencies. We had some duct tape to restrain "Gus". We had the new cell phone. We had $2,500. We had the vacuum cleaner.  
  
We also had no remorse, for we were about to kill a man.  
  
He wasn't going to biologically die, but he was going to socially die. He'd probably never see his friends or family again. He's have to start over.  
  
A casualty in a war he initially had no part of.  
  
* * *  
  
After making sure the arrangement with Ampriss was set, we arrived at the initial transfer area. It was a dilapidated warehouse surrounded by other abandoned buildings. We'd enter the truck, and head for the freeway. Our police escort would "coincidentally" show up as we traveled through the surface streets. If Ampriss did her job, they'll be broken up before we get to the onramp.  
  
The freeway rest area is only a few miles beyond that, incidentally. It's the only real rest area for a long trip. I don't believe there are any other rest areas nearby.  
  
The warehouse was crawling with armed guards. Apparently, the Hork-Bajir troops were already inside the truck, because it was all ready to go when we arrived.  
  
[Are we late or something?] Jay asked.  
  
[No, we are exactly on time. But that is odd, I did not expect this much preparedness.]  
  
A male Human-controller approached us. He looked to be around thirty years old.  
  
"Forsil 326?" he asked.  
  
"Yes. Are you to be my traveling companion?"  
  
"I am. My name is Myorga 958."  
  
"I'm amazed, Myorga."  
  
"Don't be, Forsil. I simply made sure the workers got our caravan ready for our arrival."  
  
"That's not why I'm amazed. I'm amazed because you're not groveling like most other Yeerks when introducing themselves to superior officers."  
  
Myorga made his host smile. "My host has a saying: 'If you have no dignity, you have no life.'"  
  
"I will have to remember that one."  
  
Then, one of the workers approached, to inform us that we were ready. Myorga and I entered the truck. Myorga started the engine.  
  
"Tell me, Myorga.what is your host's name?"  
  
"Richard. Why do you ask?"  
  
"I find names interesting. One of my favorite names is 'Gus'."  
  
Myorga laughed.  
  
"Why are you laughing?"  
  
"My host finds it comical. His favorite pet when he was a child was named 'Gus'."  
  
[Forsil, stop trying to get to know the guy. We're ruining him in a few minutes.]  
  
Conscience is something Jay once had. Poker is what made him lose it.  
  
It is something I have never had. And I believe that Jay is making me gain it. 


End file.
